Rise and Fall of Charlotte
by Airmd
Summary: The story behind Charlotte - Her origins as a magic girl and her eventual downfall to becoming a witch.
1. Chapter 1: Beginning

My eyes flickered open to the sound of something tapping on the small glass window. I looked up, seeing a cat tapping. The animal fled when it noticed I was staring. I looked around the room. It was dark, suggesting that it was night, though I couldn't tell the time. The nurses had removed all traces of time from my room. Now that I was slipping in out of consciousness more often, I had no need to know the time. Still feeling groggy, I closed my eyes, hoping to sink back into the comfort of sleep.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. My mind was active, thinking about the cat at the window. I wasn't even sure it was a cat. It had cat ears, but it could have been something entirely different. It could be a strange breed of animal recently discovered, I wouldn't know.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention and I turned my head in their direction. It was one of the nurses. "Oh, you're awake?" she said with a polite smile. I nodded my head- I felt too weak to speak. She smiled again, this time there was a hint of sadness in her smile. I knew what it meant. I'd seen it many times before.

I sighed and looked back at the window, my thoughts back onto the creature, and away from my fate. I suddenly felt sleepy- the nurse must have given me some more medicine. I closed my eyes and drifted back into a deep sleep.

I dreamt a lot that night. I dreamt about my past; how my parents abandoned me at the hospital after finding out I had a type of severe cancer. I dreamt about my present; spending the days that could be my last sleeping in the hospital, in an area nobody came to, with only a small fraction of light coming into the room from the small window. And I dreamt about other things; the cat at the window, a girl with blonde hair, a polka-dotted serpent with a grin made of knives, and I dreamt about myself; doing amazing things I would never have imagined.

I awoke again to the tapping at the window. I looked up; the cat was there again, fleeing when spotted. It felt like déjà vu. The room was dark, and the nurse came in again, though it was a different nurse this time. They didn't say anything, they just checked on my monitor, and checked on my current health. They avoided my gaze; I knew I didn't have long anymore.

I didn't sleep at all. The darkness in the room became a pristine white, making the room seem awfully sterile. I didn't like that. I preferred it when it was dark, it didn't seem like I was in a hospital room then. I occupied myself throughout the night with my own thoughts.

A long time ago, I created an imaginary adventure of a couple of girls. These heroines could do anything, they had everything they wanted, and they never lost. I kept this adventure alive through my time in the hospital, the countless adventures these girls had gave me hope. But now my hope was fading, as was the light in the room. Day was already changing into dusk.

My eyes pained, and I closed them, hoping to ease the pain. I had hoped to see the cat in daylight. I didn't. He didn't appear the whole time I was awake. Exhausted, and filled with disappointment, I drifted back to sleep.

I awoke for the final time in the hospital, not to the tapping on the glass window, but to the beeping of the monitor beside me. I was having trouble breathing, even though I had an oxygen mask on. How long had I been sleeping? It was around the same time as I had fallen asleep, though I didn't know how many days or weeks or months had passed. A nurse was in the room with me. I didn't recognise him, either.

I looked up at the window; there was nothing there. I tried asking the nurse to open it. Perhaps I might see the cat then. The nurse looked at me quizzically. It seemed he couldn't understand what I was saying. I tried speaking louder, though I wasn't louder than a whisper. He looked at me, then at the window, then back to me. "Window?" he asked. I smiled. He had heard me. I nodded my head. "Do you want me to open the window?" he asked. I nodded again, and he opened it. A cool breeze rushed inside, and I shivered. The nurse went to close it, but I moaned quietly. He understood what I wanted, or part of it anyway. He smiled at me, a sad smile, and walked away.

I could feel myself drifting away, in a different way than I would if I were going to sleep. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I was only fifteen, I couldn't die yet. Then I saw it. It gracefully walked up to the window, casting a shadow over my body. I could see it clearly, and I knew it wasn't a cat. It was a pure white, with red eyes that seemed to pierce into your soul. It had small cat ears, but longer ears that seemed like a rabbit's coming out of them. The rabbit ears were tipped with pink, and each had a golden halo around them. I was in awe: was this an angel of death?

The creature's voice spoke out. "What's your name?" I clearly heard the voice, knowing that it belonged to this creature, yet the creature's mouth never moved. I just sat there, staring. The creature jumped down onto my bed, and I could see its large, fluffy tail and the odd red ring pattern on its back. The creature spoke again. "What's your name?"

"Charlotte." I replied in a quiet whisper. It was all that I could manage.

"Do you wish to become a Magic Girl, Charlotte?"


	2. Chapter 2: A New Start

I paused for a moment. What did the creature say? Become a magical girl? This was ridiculous; I was on the verge of death, and I was asked to become a magical girl. The second after I had thought that, I thought something else: I was being given a second chance at life. I nodded at the creature. It smiled. "In exchange, I'll grant you one wish." It paused. "I'll let you think about what you want to wish for."

I nodded my head again, and thought of everything I could wish for. I could wish to be cured, but I wouldn't be faced with this decision if I wasn't going to get better anyway. What was it I wanted? There was a lot of things, but nothing I could single out. Would I be able to wish for everything I wanted? The beeping of the monitor beside my bed slowed down. It was telling me that my time was running out. Well, wishing for everything was worth a try. I could barely speak, and I hoped the creature could hear me. "Everything." I said, as strongly as I could. It wasn't much use, my voice was almost gone. "I wish for everything I want." I repeated, hoping to be heard.

The creature nodded. "Very well. Your wish has been accepted, and in exchange, you'll become a Magic Girl." The beeping was gradually slowing down and my vision waned. Everything went blurry as I saw the creature approach my face. With one of its rabbit-ears, it reached inside my chest, and pulled a glowing orb of something out.

The monitor droned; it was too late, I was now dead. I then realised that I wasn't, since I was able to hear the monitor, and I was able to feel the pain that circulated throughout every fibre of my being. I would have screamed and yelled, but my voice had left me. I would have thrashed around, but I had no strength, I just layed there, and endured what seemed like an eternity of pain, when I saw that the glowing orb had changed into a beautiful egg-shaped gem. It was a beautiful magenta colour, and I instinctively reached out for it.

Reaching out and taking the gem took no effort at all, when it used to take so much effort to move my head. I sat up, the monitor was still droning, saying I had no heartbeat, and I realised that I could move again. I heard the clamour of footsteps, and I knew they would soon reach me. I stood up without thinking, and ran the few steps across the room to the window. I reached up, and managed to clamour out, escaping onto the roof, just as the nurses and doctors rushed in. Luckily, I wasn't seen.

I was shaking. I could do so much more things than I could before. The creature looked at me, or rather, at the gem in my hands. "It's slightly bigger than normal." It said to me, its voice had a hint of delight in it.

I nodded and turned to it, I needed some explaining. I started with the simple question first. "Who are you?" I asked, my voice was as clear as it had been so many years ago.

The creature gave a simple reply. "Kyubey."

I sighed, now was the hard question. "Alright, Kyubey. I need some explanations." I pointed to the room where I had just been. "I died in there. Why am I still living?"

"Because your soul was removed." I looked at it- him. I decided that this Kyubey thing was a boy. I'm pretty sure I looked shocked, because he began to explain in detail. About what Magic Girls do, about soul gems, and what they are (and what that makes Magic Girls), and that when magic girls use their magic, their power depletes, causing their soul gems to darken, which requires a grief seed to fix.

It took me a few minutes to take all the information in. I was now a living corpse, essentially. A small part of me inside wanted to panic and freak out, but I knew that being a living corpse was better than being a dead one, which I would've been in a few minutes. My soul gem started to flash, and I gasped in alarm. "What does that mean?" I asked.

"A witch has appeared," Kyubey told me.

I stood up, and hesitated for a minute. I wasn't sure how to transform into a Magical Girl. I wasn't going to ask Kyubey, though. I was sick of his answers. I tried searching my soul for something -anything- that might spark a transformation. I found it; it was a bright light within my soul. The moment I touched it, I felt warmness spread throughout my body. I was suddenly taken back to reality, and I could still feel the warmness tingle on my skin. I knew I had done it, because I could feel clothing that was not a hospital gown on my body. I looked at my outfit; it seemed to revolve around red polka-dots, and candy. My weapon, a small wand of sorts, was even donned with a small gold candy on top.

I smiled, I was pleased with myself. I looked at Kyubey, and nodded. "Let's go." I said. I ran across rooftops, jumping from roof to roof, until I could feel a heavy presence nearby. I thought it was a witch, until I came close enough to see the full scene.

The glow of my soul gem had faded, and I saw her, standing where I thought the witch was a few moments ago. She had blonde hair, done in a drill-ringlet style, and she wielded a rifle as a weapon. Compared to me and my wand, she looked amazing. I then realised that this girl was not only a fellow Magic Girl, but she was also the girl who had appeared in my dream. I watched her transform back into a school uniform, and I watched her leave.

I sighed, and tried using my powers for the first time. I didn't know what they were, but I did know that I hadn't gotten anything I wanted yet, so I supposed getting what I wanted was my power. I closed my eyes and focused. I wanted a nice set of clothing, sine I only had the hospital gown. I felt a cold chill run throughout my body, and sitting in a neat pile in front of me, was a pretty little dress, along with a pair of matching shoes. I looked around; Kyubey had left, possibly to follow that rifle-girl. I jumped down from the building and into an empty alleyway, transformed back, and changed my clothes.

I stepped out onto the pavement, feeling refreshed and new, seeing nothing but a bright future ahead of myself. I smiled and sighed, I felt free. The sky was starting to become dark, and I walked down the path, wondering where I should stay for the night.


End file.
